It's time to go, Shane Watson.

A lot of what's been said about him in this article wouldn't be a problem if he was still a 22-year-old all-rounder with promise but at 32 (hb, Shane), he shouldn't have to be told how to play by anyone any more. ****, the same logic applied 5 years ago. All the talk when he comes up is how the team can find a place to fit him in. Well, I'm saying there isn't a place for him any more in the Test side. When you're hearing 'At his best, he's x.' about a bloke for 10 years, wears thin on us fans so can only imagine how his team-mates are going with that especially since, at his best, he wasn't exactly dominating. The current slump cant be blamed on not hitting them well because he is. There are obviously other issues at play.

The only things keeping Watson in the Test side are teenage promise and the lack of obviously good options. He can't open (certainly not in England) because he's junk against the swinging ball, he can't bat lower than 4 and do more bowling because he's junk against good spin and he can't bowl too much more any way because he'll be crocked. This is aside from the effect of his personality on the team which I obviously don't have first-hand knowledge of but the press hasn't been too positive. For the health of the team, it's time to look elsewhere and not for an all-rounder but someone who can contribute with either at other times than when in the mood.

I agree with this TC. There is clearly some rift in this team, and on either side of the rift is Watson and Clarke leading factions. For all I know they might both be wankers, but it's time to bite the bullet and get rid of Watson. He's never going to perform in the all round capacity that the team needs, he's limited as a batsman and he's an undeniably bad influence on the team through his self indulgent demeanor and poor body language on field. Considering Haddin has been recalled, the time is right for Australia to blood whoever they consider to be the best young batsman in the country, regardless of their FC record.

I recall Bob Simpson talking about the rebuild that happened under Border when they decided to get rid of all the negative influences on the team ( I think they got rid of guys like Zoehrer etc) and picked guys they could build a side around (S.Waugh, Boon, McDermott, Marsh, Healy). I think that probably needs to happen sooner rather than later.

I think at the moment (and it hurts me to say) that Steve Smith is going to give the test team the most upside of anyone not currently in there. Smith is making runs, and he also appears to be "good vibes"

#neverthoughtI'dbebiggingupstevesmith

The alternatives are to select a proper young batsman who might make it...Doolan, Lynn, Maddinson etc

Or actually give Khawaja a decent run in the team for one or two series.

There are extenuating circumstances; in a hilarious bit of irony, Blewwy's replacement was Hayden so, well, y'know that vaguely worked out for the best. But, in my mind, those extenuating circumstances are well over, especially since Watson's no longer VC. His place should be fair game.

EDIT: Of the potential replacements, it's interesting that the most likely ability-wise have marks against them for non-cricketing reasons. Got to wonder about the succession planning with the spectre of Watson about the place.

I think at the moment (and it hurts me to say) that Steve Smith is going to give the test team the most upside of anyone not currently in there. Smith is making runs, and he also appears to be "good vibes"

#neverthoughtI'dbebiggingupstevesmith

The alternatives are to select a proper young batsman who might make it...Doolan, Lynn, Maddinson etc

Or actually give Khawaja a decent run in the team for one or two series.

Or get Cossy in there to fix everything, but that wont happen...

Steve Smith WAG. Suck it Cribb, they're converting.

But in all seriousness, Watson is surviving because he can bowl sometimes, and with our injury-prone pace battery we need a support bowler in there somewhere. Andrew McDonald. I don't care that he wasn't fit last Shield summer, get him into the squad, get him into the warm-ups, and we should go with a top 7 of:

It isn't the strongest top 7 ever, but FFS McDonald averages 39 in FC cricket and has had pretty good past couple of years, while averaging under 30 with the ball across his career. And he did pretty well in his Test outings with the ball, and didn't get all too many chances with the bat at 8. Criminally underrated player.

Was 2nd on the Shield run-scorers last year, to be fair. Could have challenged Ponting for top if he wasn't so rubbish after Christmas. Also plays in a winning team which could count in a Test side full of blokes used to losing.

Yeah, but in his previous post he's saying that 'bad influences' need to be gotten rid of, and then goes and suggests Cosgrove is the miracle fix. Forgive me if I'm mistaken here, but everything I've heard about him suggests that you'd be replacing a douche with a bigger douche.

There is merit to including Cosgrove for purely cricketing reasons, yes (wouldn't be my pick, but I understand it).

I agree with the opening post. If there was ever a player told to focus on short-form Cricket it would be Shane Watson. I honestly think that him being away from the Test side will have a positive influence on our Test team and on Watson's own performances in ODIs and T20 Cricket where his position definitely should not be questioned.

Of course the natural question is who to replace him with and I feel as though the Australian hierarchy have to work out whether or not they want to pick the 11 best Cricketers to defeat the mid tier teams or be as competitive as possible against the absolute top teams (and still beat the mid tier teams). I would prefer the second option for sure as I don't mind as much if we lose against the top teams when we actually show some fight.

This means that we have to select Cricketers who have shown the necessary fight who don't have flaws, or as many flaws which the opposition bowlers can expose as easily. Shane Watson and Phil Hughes should not be currently a member of our best Test XI. TC explained why for Watson and Phil Hughes has not done anything to suggest that the selectors were wrong in leaving him out of the team against South Africa in the summer. Steve Smith has shown the fight. He has performed strongly in the past two Shield seasons, he has made runs for Australia A and performed well against India in tough circumstances. He is without doubt one of our six best batsman as far as I'm concerned.

Yeah, but in his previous post he's saying that 'bad influences' need to be gotten rid of, and then goes and suggests Cosgrove is the miracle fix. Forgive me if I'm mistaken here, but everything I've heard about him suggests that you'd be replacing a douche with a bigger douche.

There is merit to including Cosgrove for purely cricketing reasons, yes (wouldn't be my pick, but I understand it).

There was a bit of sarcasm to my post, but anyway...

I dont see Cosgrove as a miracle solution by any means. But I do genuinely think that he's Australia's second best available batsman. I have no doubt about that. Considering the circumstances, I'd get him in the team asap.

And I will say this. Having a fat bloke in the team can be great. Makes everyone else take themselves a little less seriously (in the good way).

Cosgrove doesn't appear to be a problem at all at Tasmania. He's 29 now, most likely matured a fair bit and with a different personal in the squad I don't think any of his previous issues should be reason enough to not select him. In saying that, the selectors look like they are more interested in his teammate Doolan and potentially Silk too

Also the thing I like about Cosgrove is that he can bowl 4 or 5 overs of medium pacers if the team needs it. I feel as though the Australian setup doesn't show enough confidence in our bowling attack by rotating them at weird times and picking players like Watson and all rounders like Henriques and Maxwell to support our bowling attack more. If our batsman fail 'runs are just around the corner' if our bowling team is unable to capture 20 wickets a bowler is dropped.

I just want the 6 best batsman picked, a keeper who can catch the ball 99 times out of 100, our 3 best quicks and our best spinner. PONIs like Maddinson, Silk, Burns should be trying to develop the ability to roll there arm over (Hughes and Khawaja should too) just so they can be called upon to bowl those couple of overs so we don't need to select a less superior batsman in our top 6 just because he can bowl a bit.